IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS
Opening Prayer
Mighty God, you are my hope when all else fails; my solid rock, firm and secure, on whom I can depend. Thank you Lord.
Read COLOSSIANS 1:15-23
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:21 Or minds, as shown by
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
We live in a world full of things. Sometimes they own us more than we own them! Are there things you hope will make you happy? What things could stand in the way between you and God?This passage is bursting at the seams. How can the invisible God have an image (v 15)? How can all creation exist for and through one person (v 16)? How can anyone rise from the dead? How can every competing force in the universe be reconciled? Can true peace ever be realized? The answer to each of these questions is found in Jesus, God’s only Son who died and rose again. It is all so simple and at the same time so incredibly profound.
Paul in one paragraph sums up the astonishing truth of the gospel for a small church in a regional town! They, and we, are presented holy and blameless through this Jesus (v 22). The Lord of all creation came in the flesh and sorted out our mess. Job done. We are reconciled with a God who loves us.
The challenge now is how to think and act in response to that astonishing truth. The hard work of salvation has been done through Christ. Nothing to add. The question is how then should we live? Paul urges the Colossians to stand firm in this hope (v 23).
Apply
What forces are shaking your foundations? Bring those challenges to our Father now. He is with you, to the very end of the age.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I want you to be pre-eminent in my life. I want you to increase in my life as I decrease. I want you to be the king of my life.
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